Kyogre is one of the Legendary Weather Trio of Pokémon Generation 3. It’s a Water-type Pokémon and, since it has elite stats it takes Gyarados and Vaporeon’s place as best pure Water-type attacker in the game. Also, since Kyogre has a primal evolution in the future — though, unlike Groudon, Primal Kyogre doesn’t get dual typing — it only gets better with time.

Kyogre is said to be the personification of the sea itself. Legends tell of its many clashes against Groudon, as each sought to gain the power of nature.

Kyogre is a massive whale-like Pokémon with two big pectoral fins, each with four white square-shaped nails. It has a deep blue body and a white chin area with two small spikes protruding under it. Above each eye are two white, oval-shaped spots. It has red stripes around its chin, eyes, dorsal fins, and torso. These stripes glow when Kyogre is brimming with power. The tail is tattered with four trailing parts, the inner ones being smaller than the outer. Its eyes are small, yellow, and shadowed with black.

Kyogre is said to be a powerful Pokémon, having control over the element of water and rain to have quenched areas of the world plagued with drought and to have expanded the seas. Kyogre is normally calm and peaceful, but if it meets its rival, Groudon, Kyogre will engage in a cataclysmic battle against it.

Since Kyogre is an Water-type Pokémon — the Water-type Pokémon — it’s resistant to Fire, Steel, Ice, and Water. While it has no double-resistances or double weaknesses, Kyogre is still weak to Electric and Grass.

So, Raikou with Thunder Shock and Wild Charge, being the best Electric attacker in the game, is your go-to. If you don’t have enough Raikou, you can round out your team with Zapdos (Charge Beam + Thunderbolt).

Also handy, as always, are your Solar Beam attackers, which puts Exeggutor (Bullet Seed + Solar Beam) and Venusaur (Vine Whip + Solar Beam) near the top as well.

Legendary Raid Bosses are really hard to catch and Kyogre may be the hardest yet. It floats relatively far away, so make sure you throw far enough to hit it. It also moves side to side and has a strange hit area that make it tough to get great, much less excellent throw bonuses.

Pro tip: If Kyogre is stuck on the side, you can toggle AR-mode on and off to re-center it for a few moments.

You won’t catch everyone Kyogre you beat, there are some things you can do to maximize your chances.

ABC. Always be curving. Once you can nail Curve Ball every time, you’ll get a 1.7x bonus every time.

Max out your medals. Some are easier to get than others but once you get them, it’s an automatic 1.1x to 1.3x bonus to your catch.

Play patient. Raid bosses defend better than normal Pokémon, so wait until 3/4 of the way through their attack animation and then make your catch. You should hit just as the ring appears.

Consistency counts. Aim for the smallest throw bonus you can nail every time. If that’s Nice, it’s nice. If that’s Great or Excellent, even nicer. But better the bonus you get then one you miss, and every extra 1.3 to 2x counts.

Nanab over nothing. If you have a hard time even hitting the Raid Boss, use a Nanab. Some chance is better than no chance.

Go Golden: If you have Golden Razz Berries, and the Raid Boss you’re trying to catch is either your first or the higher stats (IV) you’ve encountered, lay them on. Their 2.5x modifiers are the best in the game.

Keep hitting. Your chance to catch with any one Premier Ball is low but your chance to catch with multiple Premier Ball hits over multiple Raids becomes close to a statistical sure thing. So never give up!

What’s the catch rate for Kyogre?

Kyogre, like the Legendary Beasts and the Bird Leaders, has a base catch rate of 2%. From there, you have the following modifiers:

Curve Premiere Ball: x1.7

Curve Premiere Ball with Razz Berry: x2.55

Curve Premiere Ball with Golden Razz Berry: x4.25

Nice throw: 1x to 1.3x

Great throw: 1.3 to 1.7x

Excellent throw: 1.7 to 2x.

Bronze Swimmer (Water) medal: 1.1x

Silver Swimmer (Water) medal: 1.2x

Gold Swimmer (Water) medal: 1.3x

Add up all those bonuses, apply them over the course of 6-14 ball throws, and most people should be able to catch Kyogre somewhere between a third of the time and half the time. (Of course, odds being odds, some people might catch many in a row, others might see several run away.)

What if you really want to catch Kyogre?

To maximize your chances to catch Kyogre, get as many Premiere Balls as you can (Team Bonus, Damage Bonus, Gym Control), and use Golden Razz Berry every time you throw. If you can hit Great/Excellent throws, can get the Curve Ball bonus every time, you’ll have the best chance possible to catch Kyogre.

If you’re running low on Golden Razz, try using regular Razz for the first half of your throws, then switch to Golden Razz for the second half. It’ll still hurt your chances but not by as much.

What if you really want Kyogre candy?

If you’ve already got your ideal Kyogre and all you want now is candy, use Pinap Berry. Your chance to catch will be much lower but if you do catch, you’ll get double the candy.

If you have some Rare Candy or you also want to catch some more Kyogre, you can try the first half of your throws with Pinap and then switch to Golden Razz for the last half.

What’s the best moveset for Kyogre?

With some Legendary Pokémon, the best moveset is clear. With others, there’s disagreement or multiple options. With Kyogre, there’s no doubt about it. Kyogre is a water beast and, when you have a water beast, you let it be a water beast.

Sure, many people already have powered up Vaporeons and recently Waterfall’d Gyarados at the heads of their Water-type Battle Teams. But adding Kyogre will just make that team that much more effective.

Quick move: Waterfall.

Charge move: Hydro Pump.

Your tips on catching Kyogre?

There are a bunch of other tips floating out there, including setting your target size before throwing, alternating Nanab Berry, and more. It all comes down to math, though. You have a 2% base chance of catching Kyogre and every bonus and ball increases that chance. You throw, Pokémon Go generates a random number, and if that number is less than your modified catch rate, you get Kyogre.

If you’ve found anything else that works better for you, though, let me know!